Introduction to Networking, Network Administration, and NetWare 6.5
- A Brief History of the NetWare Operating System
- Identify NetWare 6.5 Features
- Describe How NetWare Works with Other Operating Systems
- Exam Prep Questions
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Terms you’ll need to understand:
- Bindery
- NDS
- eDirectory
- SAN
- NCS
- iSCSI
- iFolder
- eGuide
- Virtual Teams
- File Versioning
- iPrint
- Open Source Services
- NSS
- Native File Access Protocol
- DOS
- NWSERVER
- SERVER.EXE
Techniques you’ll need to master:
- Identify major occurrences in the evolution of NetWare
- Identify NetWare 6.5 features
- Describe how NetWare 6.5 works with other operating systems
The first thing you need to do as you begin your NetWare 6.5 journey is to briefly look at the historical roots of NetWare 6.5. You will look at some of the new features of NetWare 6.5 and how Novell has classified some of these features and services. Then you will see how NetWare works with other operating systems. For example, you will learn which systems can function as a NetWare client and which can function as a server in a NetWare 6.5 network environment. Let the journey begin!
A Brief History of the NetWare Operating System
Novell NetWare has a long and winding history. From the early 1980s on, NetWare has gone through many version upgrades. It is beyond the scope of this book to go all the way back to the early days of NetWare, when it was called ShareNet or S-Net. The versions that are of interest to you, as you prepare for the exam, start with NetWare 3. The versions, their major features and services, and their importance are covered in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 A Brief History of NetWare
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NetWare Version |
Features and Services |
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NetWare 3.x, including the following versions: NetWare 3.0 NetWare 3.11 NetWare 3.12 NetWare 3.2 |
NetWare 3.0 shipped in the fall of 1989. With the release of 3.11, NetWare became a full 32-bit operating system that supported NetWare Loadable Modules (NLMs). NetWare 3.x primarily provided file and print services. NetWare 3.x stored user accounts in the bindery, which is a flat-file database that is stored on each server. The bindery was made up of three files:
The only objects you would see in the bindery, when working in the SYSCON management utility, would be users, groups, printers, print servers, and print queues. Users had to log in to each server that they wanted to access. The process was to log in to the first server and attach to the second and subsequent servers. Rights assignments, also known as Trustee assignments, were made to users and groups. A group EVERYONE existed when you wanted to grant rights to all users in the bindery. |
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NetWare 4.x, including the following versions: NetWare 4.0 NetWare 4.10 NetWare 4.11 IntraNetWare NetWare 4.2 |
NetWare 4.0 was introduced in early 1993. NetWare 4.x offered the same file and print services that were the mainstay of NetWare 3.x. NetWare 4.x supported up to 1,000 users, with licenses becoming additive with the release of NetWare 4.10. Novell Directory Services (NDS) was introduced with NetWare 4. NDS is a directory naming service. It keeps track of all network resources through a hierarchical, relational database that is distributed and loosely consistent. Many consider it the main network service provided by NetWare 4.x. It is the precursor to the current directory service called eDirectory. With NDS, users no longer logged in to a server, but to a tree. After they were authenticated, based on the rights assigned, users could access all network resources available to them in the tree. It no longer mattered which server an application, service, or resource was on. If a tree had 10 servers installed, a user could potentially access all 10 servers if the appropriate rights were assigned. The three major components of NDS were objects, properties, and values. With NetWare 4.x and NDS, the directory was not housed on a single server. The directory, through the processes of partitioning and replication, was distributed to strategically placed servers throughout the tree. This provided a degree of fault tolerance. NetWare 4.x also provided enhanced TCP/IP and Macintosh support. In 1996, IntraNetWare was released, enhancing the network capabilities available with NetWare 4.11. The primary enhancements were the capability to function as a Web server, FTP server, router, Internetwork Packet Exchange/Sequenced Packet Exchange (IPX/IP) gateway, and application launcher. NAL (NetWare Application Launcher) was the precursor to the modern-day ZENworks for Desktops. |
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NetWare 5.x, including the following versions: NetWare 5.0 NetWare 5.1 |
In the late 1990s, NetWare 5.0 was released. Up until NetWare 5.0, NetWare was primarily a network operating system that used IPX/SPX.-The main reason behind this was that NetWare before NetWare 5 was considered a LAN operating system. With the release of NetWare 5.0, a native TCP/IP protocol stack was made available with the core operating system. This enabled NetWare to shed its LAN chains and move into the world of WANs. IPX/SPX was still available, but Novell encouraged its customers to migrate to TCP/IP. For those who could not, two strategies were made available:
NetWare 5.x, using the native TCP/IP stack, enhanced its capabilities by including a Web server, FTP server, NNTP server, and the capability to function as a DNS/DHCP server. |
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NetWare 6.x, including the following versions: NetWare 6.0 NetWare 6.5 |
With the release of NetWare 6.0, Novell has begun its move toward OneNet, anytime, anywhere access to networked resources, regardless of the operating system platform. With NetWare 6, Novell also began its entrance into the world of open source services and applications. One of the main features and services introduced with NetWare 6 is eDirectory and the multitude of platforms that it can work on. eDirectory is the successor to NDS, introduced with NetWare 4. eDirectory is more mature and robust than its predecessors, and it still provides centralized administration of network resources through a distributed, replicated directory. |
Now that this chapter has explored some of NetWare’s history, it will examine the new features and services introduced with NetWare 6.5.